Joshua 15

Analysis

The narrative of Israelites allotting the land of Canaan comprising verses 13:1 to 21:45 of the Book of Joshua and has the following outline:

A. Preparations for Distributing the Land (13:1-14:15)

B. The Allotment for Judah (15:1-63)

1. Judah's Boundaries (Joshua 15:1-12)

2. Achsah's Blessing (Joshua 15:13-19)

3. The Cities of Judah's Inheritance (15:20-63)

C. The Allotment for Joseph (16:1-17:18)

D. Land Distribution at Shiloh (18:1-19:51)

E. Levitical Distribution and Conclusion (20:1-21:45)

There are three key elements in the report of the allotments for the nine and a haf tribes in the land of Canaan as follows:

Judah's boundaries (15:1–12)

The allotment for the tribe of Judah is recorded first and the longest among other Cisjordan tribes, consistings of a definition of its boundaries (verses 1–12), and a list of its cities (verses 20–63), with an additional insertion about the inheritance of Caleb (verses 13–19). The boundary description (15:1-12) proceeds in the order south, east, north, west. The southern boundary runs from the southern tip of the Dead Sea to the Mediterranean, including Kadesh-barnea and extending to the 'Wadi [or brook] of Egypt' (now "Wadi el-Arish"). The eastern boundary is the Dead Sea. The northern boundary is drawn carefully round the southern extremities of the city of Jerusalem (verse 8), which is still in the possession of the Jebusites. The western boundary is the Mediterranean Sea.

Verse 8

Then the boundary goes up by the Valley of the Son of Hinnom at the southern shoulder of the Jebusite (that is, Jerusalem). And the boundary goes up to the top of the mountain that lies over against the Valley of Hinnom, on the west, at the northern end of the Valley of Rephaim.

• "Jerusalem": here is not included into Judah's territory, and Joshua 15:63 notes that Judah could not take it, whereas Joshua 18:28 assigned it to Benjamin, whose southern boundary (Joshua 18:15–19) corresponds closely to the northern boundary of Judah as outlined here. However, Judges 1:8 records that Judah took Jerusalem (likely, the areas outside the city walls) and set it on fire, while Judges 1:21 notes that the Benjaminites could not drive out the Jebusites, who still possessed Jerusalem as also noted in Judges 19:11–12, where the city is called "Jebus", with the remark, “which is Jerusalem”, and the Levite did not want to go in there, because it is a “city of the Jebusites,” “the city of a stranger.” At the end David succeeded to defeat the Jebusites, conquered Jerusalem and made it his capital over all Israel (2 Samuel 5:6–10).

Achsah's blessing (15:13–19)

Having been granted the city of Hebron by Joshua, Caleb has to fight to conquer it along with surrounding areas (could be a part of Joshua's conquest in Joshua 10:36–37). In turn, Caleb becomes a 'distributor' to grant a land to his son-in-law Othniel, because of his role in the conquest (Othniel later becomes the first 'Judge' of Israel; Judges 3:8–11), and his daughter Achsah, Othniel's wife, whose request for water reflects the condition in the drier areas of Negeb, Judah's southern desert.

Cities of Judah (15:20–63)

The long list of cities shows the extensive land of Judah, incorporating both the rich plain and the dry wilderness, especially the viticulture in the terraced slopes of the hill country and lowlands according to the blessing of Jacob to Judah (Genesis 49: 11–12). There are four distinct geographical areas of the land:

1. the Negeb (or 'extreme south', verse 21)
2. the lowlands (the Shephela, between the higher hills and the Mediterranean, verse 33)
3. the hill country (of the central ridge; verse 48)
4. the wilderness, east of the central ridge towards the Dead Sea (verse 61).

The lands close to the drier area were more suitable for sheep-rearing than agriculture, such as Carmel and Maon (verse 55) which are mentioned in the story of Nabal, a sheep-farmer who insulted David (1 Samuel 25:2).

Prominent cities mentioned in the list include such places as Adullam, Socoh, Jarmuth, Zanoah and Zorah. Keilah, Maresha, Maon, Halhul, and Timnah are also named there. The list of cities can be divided into twelve groups or districts (by the repeated phrase 'with their villages'), which was apparently still used in administering and collecting ancient taxes during the reign of King Manasseh, based on the archaeological discoveries of the city names in the fiscal bullae for tax collection in that period

The final verse (verse 63), along with other similar ones, note Israel's partial failure to take the land, despite the initial sweeping victory in Joshua 1–12, especially chapters 11–12.